Chapter Summary:
A past case comes back and scandalizes the entire NSY, pulling Sherlock and John right into the centre of the media's attention.
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CHAPTER 36: THE SCANDAL BREAKS
Sherlock stared at his email inbox, glaring at the screen. That email, that one email that caused the unsettling flutter in his stomach, he loathed it. Nothing had happened so far, and the new year had started without incident, but he couldn't put to rest the feeling of unease. John's work had started again and it left him with a lot more free time to worry over it, and he didn't like it one bit. Lestrade had tried to help him trace the message, but it had come from a blocked proxy. To dig any deeper would have involved warrants and permission from the higher ups in NSY and without much evidence they didn't have much hope of obtaining said permission.
He glowered as he scanned the photos once more, hoping that maybe this time he will see something to give away the person who took the photo. A reflection, a mark somewhere, a finger, something.
The sudden beeping of his mobile jolted him upright. Picking it up, he brought it to his ear absently, still scrolling through the pictures.
"Sherlock speaking."
"Sherlock, Lestrade here. Turn on your TV, local news station. Now."
The seriousness in the DI's voice immediately alerted Sherlock that something had gone awry. Hurrying for the remote control, he turned on the news and stared at his face plastered on the screen. To be exact, it was two photos of his face. The first one had him standing beside Lestrade and Donovan, looking downwards at something, hat and coat in place. The second photo was him with John, walking along a street engaged in some conversation. He didn't have any form of disguise on in the second photo, and put side-by-side it was obvious the two were of the same hybrid.
With a sinking feeling, he turned up the volume to listen.
"...received from an inside source that the New Scotland Yard has been receiving help from an outside hybrid. Late last year, this hybrid and an unknown male, believed to be his owner, were involved in the serial hybrid killings that led to an investigation by NSY into a fight club that the NSY subsequently shut down."
The screen changed to show a series of photos of the fight clubs that John and Sherlock had infiltrated.
"At the time, it was believed that both, this unknown hybrid and his owner were victims, however, our network has received video proof that this hybrid was engaged in a fight with another hybrid and consequently killed him."
The images on the screen faded and a video replaced them. Immediately, Sherlock recognized the ring in which he had been forced to fight Dim. There was no audio, but the image was clear enough to show him on Dim's back, clawing and biting. The video was zoomed in on the two fighters and aside from the two hybrids entangled in their struggles no other person appeared on the screen.
The last bit of the video showed Dim's bloody body, torn and unmoving. He had been discovered by Scotland Yard by a river, and with all the injuries plus decomposition it was hard to tell exactly what had killed him from the video footage alone. Sherlock had no doubt most people will believe the news that he died from the fight alone if they were not shone evidence of the bullet he knew Moriarty used to end the other hybrid's life.
"Scotland Yard has, thus far, refused to comment on the fact that they have not only enabled an outside hybrid to aid them on cases, but a criminal hybrid. They have also refrained from naming this hybrid along with his owner. We will keep you updated on any further developments we receive."
"Sherlock?! SHERLOCK!"
The voice from the phone bellowed as Lestrade tried to get his attention once more.
"Sherlock, you need to get down to Scotland Yard right now. Come in disguise, use the back door. The front is filled with reporters. Get into my office and wait for me ASAP."
The brunet nodded before he realized Lestrade couldn't hear him and uttered an affirmative.
"Yes...I'll be there in twenty."
Quick as he can, Sherlock got himself ready for the trip, shoving his hair under the hat as best as he can and even putting on a pair of John's sunglasses to hid his face. He jotted down a note to John explaining the situation and raced out the door for a cab.
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Lestrade hadn't been joking about the reporters. As the cab drove around the building to go to the back Sherlock eyed the crowd of media vans and microphones. It looked like Scotland Yard had barricaded their door to keep the reports out but they had decided to camp out in front of the building instead.
Paying the driver, Sherlock hurried to the back door and discretely let himself in using the code the DI had given him before. He tried to keep out of view of most of the officers, sticking to the walls and shadows until he reached Lestrade's office. The DI was inside already, pacing around with the phone to his ear.
"No, Leroy! I told you, don't tell them anything! Whatever you say they'll twist the words and make us out to be the bad guys. You know how much those reporters love a police scandal! Just keep quiet and we'll release an official statement once everything's settled."
The phone was slammed down as the DI slumped down in his chair, rubbing his hands over his face.
"Good grief. I've been on the phone all day because of this. For chrissakes, who leaked this information? Where the hell did they get the pictures and video?!"
"You've got a leak," Sherlock told him calmly, fingering open two of the blinds and scanning the desks where the other cops worked.
"A leak?! But why? Why now?! What good does this do to anyone?"
Sherlock's mind raced as he tried to think. He had a good idea who was behind it, after all only one person had escaped that night.
"Moriarty. The one who ran the fight clubs and was in charge of the whole operation, you never caught him did you?"
Lestrade paused, "No...no we didn't. He disappeared off the grid. We thought he might have escaped out of the country."
"Unlikely. He's coming after me."
"OK...but why? Revenge for ruining his operation?"
"Hardly. From what I know about him he's unlikely to be so attached to something so...trivial."
"From what you know? What DO you know about him, Sherlock? Are you withholding information from me?"
Here, Sherlock stopped and bit down on his tongue. He can't bring Mycroft into this, but not telling Lestrade what he knows about Moriarty can seriously impede his ability to get them out of this mess.
"I...I have some information that he's more than just a common criminal. I can't tell you much more, you'll have to trust me on this. He's the mastermind, the one pulling the strings, and he's operating on a far larger scale than simply London or even the UK."
The DI stared at him wide-eyed with disbelief until his phone rang again and he picked up, still gaping at Sherlock.
"Lestrade."
Sherlock tuned him out as he looked over at the TV Lestrade had in his office. It was on mute, but the news was running and the captions below relayed to him what was being said.
"I-I'm sorry sir, no, I never said...yes...but sir! I'm sure I've mentioned Sherlock to you...well, no, but John's his owner! But he was never officially on our payroll, sir! Yes...I understand, yes, I'll handle it. No, no I guarantee that neither John or Sherlock are criminals sir, that is a lie! I don't know where they got the video, but we will release the forensics report concluding that that hybrid was NOT killed by Sherlock. Yes, I'm positive we have that report, sir. Yes, I already have someone getting it, I'll release it immediately."
Lestrade put down the phone with an exhausted sigh just as someone knocked on the door to the office.
"Busy!"
"Greg, it's me. Need to talk to you!"
Sherlock bristled at the sound of Sally's voice and moved further into the room to get away from the door. The woman walked in holding a file, and for once she didn't pay Sherlock any mind.
"We've got a problem boss."
The strangled groan from Lestrade sounded like someone who was drowning as he looked pitifully at Donovan.
"What is it now? Building's on fire?"
"No, worse. I went to get that file on the hybrid Sherlock fought as you told me to..."
Silence as the two men waited for her to continue. Sally took a deep breath and held out the file in her hand.
"Someone must have tampered with it, it states that that hybrid died from the wounds sustained in the fight."
Sherlock felt his heart drop at the words as he stared at the file. No...it can't be. How can that be? He knew he hadn't killed Dim, Moriarty had done that. Moriarty had shot Dim.
Lestrade practically flew over the desk as he grabbed the file from Sally and flipped it open. Sherlock peered over his shoulder and read the conclusion made by the coroner. Under "cause of death" there was a list of all the injuries Dim had sustained, but nowhere did it mention a bullet wound.
"FUCK! Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" The expletives exploded from Lestrade as he slammed the file onto his desk.
"An exhumation, exhume the body," Sherlock's tightly controlled voice pierced through the air, "Exhume the body and we can prove he was shot."
"Brilliant," Donovan told him sarcastically as if he was idiotic to think she hadn't thought of it too, "Except he had been cremated. I don't know who authorized that, but the method of body disposal was cremation. Whatever evidence there was, it's all gone now."
Sherlock's eyes turned to her and stared, a feeling of panic welling up inside him. The body's gone, and with it all the evidence to prove Sherlock hadn't killed Dim. If he gets pinned for this murder, it would taint all the Scotland Yard cases he had been involved in. On top of that, a killer hybrid gets put down. Worse, if they somehow pull John into this...
A lump formed in Sherlock's throat as the idea floated into his head. If they find out John and Sherlock weren't only owner and pet, but more...it wasn't illegal, but it would ram the doctor's reputation into the wall. Not to mention the media knew John was captured at the fight club with him, so if rumour somehow started that John had a hand in the killing...
A sudden hand clasped down on Sherlock's shoulder and he jumped, spinning around. Lestrade and Sally were watching him, concerned, although there was a trace of impatience in Sally's face.
"Sherlock? Hey, Sherlock, we'll figure this out, don't you worry. We know you didn't kill anyone, alright?"
Before anyone could say anything more, they heard shouting outside the office followed by footsteps. Quickly, Lestrade yanked open the door and peered out where a group of officers had pinned someone to the wall.
"Let me through, dammit! I need to see Lestrade!"
"Sir, you need to calm down. Are you on any kind of drugs sir?"
Sherlock's ears pricked up at the first voice, immediately recognizing it and he tried to push past Sally and the DI to get to John. Donovan hurriedly grabbed his arm as Lestrade pushed him back into the room, closing the door.
"Let him go! He's fine! I called him in to see me!"
With some hesitation, the doctor was released. He glared about and straightened himself before storming over to Greg.
"Where is he? All I got was a note telling me he's down at Scotland Yard and to go through the back door. What the fuck is going on, Greg?"
The DI sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day as he motioned for John to follow him into his office. Spotting Sherlock, John immediately went to his side and hugged him tightly. He frowned when he felt the brunet trembling and clinging to him.
Without letting go, John scanned his eyes over to Lestrade and Sally, lips set in a tight, thin line.
"Explain. What the hell is happening?"
The DI held up his hands as if to placate the agitated doctor and made a sweeping motion over the files on his desk along with the TV beside it.
"Someone, Sherlock thinks Moriarty, sent photos of the fight club case to the media. They also sent a video of the fight Sherlock was forced into against that one hybrid, Dim. They're claiming that Dim died from the fight with Sherlock, instead of a bullet wound."
"OK. But you KNOW that's not true."
"Yes, we do. But to prove that we need evidence, and unfortunately, as we just found out, someone tampered with Dim's autopsy report. It reads that his cause of death was the wounds from the fight...and his body's already been cremated, so we can't do a second autopsy."
Everyone fell quiet as they absorbed the information. Sherlock kept himself beside John, feeling another wave of guilt wash over him. If only he hadn't pleaded with John to let him take that damn case.
"So...basically what you're saying is they're accusing Sherlock of murder and we've got nothing to prove them wrong, yeah?"
Sally and Lestrade shared a look before the DI nodded, eyes trailing to his desk.
"And if he gets convicted of murder..."
"It's the death penalty," Sally finished for him, "Not to mention every criminal we've put behind bars with his help will appeal their case. I mean, a non-authorized hybrid helping the police is bad enough, a non-authorized killer hybrid is enough to get at least half of those scums released based on jury sympathy alone."
John visibly tensed as his eyes narrowed on Sally and attempted to melt her into a pool of liquid through will power alone.
"Excuse me. Was it not Scotland Yard who asked him to help? He did it as a favour to YOU. He went undercover, got himself captured, got himself RAPED for chrissakes so that YOU could solve a bloody serial killer case that YOU had been incapable of solving even after DOZENS of deaths. Now you have the nerve to turn around and BLAME him for HELPING? Are you fucking insane?! Where do you get the balls..."
John had steadily inched closer and closer to Sally as his words dripped with venom. In an attempt to calm him down, Lestrade stepped in between the doctor and his subordinate just as Sherlock pulled him back.
"John, calm down, we're not blaming Sherlock for anything. We want to help, we'll find a way to prove he didn't kill Dim. Donovan, go find the coroner who did the autopsy, bring him in for questioning at once."
Sally, a bit shaken at how threatening John had turned suddenly, swallowed and gave herself a little shake. She nodded curtly at the instructions and headed out of the office.
"Look, I'm sorry about what she said, she shouldn't have put it like that," Lestrade huffed once the door closed behind Sally, "But it is true that this is going to be incredibly messy to clean up, so let's stick together. You two head on back home, and lay low for now. Sherlock, use a disguise if you need to go outside for the time being, and John, since they've got a picture of you too, I suggest you put on some sunglasses too or something. Don't talk to the press, don't make public statements and wait for me to contact you, OK? We'll get this all sorted."
Sherlock looked over at John to see his owner's face still red from anger and trying to contain his urge to lash out. Tugging on the doctor's arm, he nudged him towards the door.
"Yes, we'll do that. At least let the media frenzy die down for now. Call me tomorrow with whatever you find out from the coroner," Sherlock said as he readjusted his clothes, pulled the hat lower on his head and handed the sunglasses over to John.
Lestrade gave them a nod as they exited, every one of them wearing an expression of apprehension and the beginnings of fear.
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CHAPTER 36 END
I spent a week trying to figure out the details of how to write this and ended up driving myself crazy attempting to find loopholes to fill. It might get complicated, as are the case with cases and scandals, so if anything is unclear feel free to point it out to me.
Thank you all so much for sticking through all these months with me, I can't believe how long this story has continued, and how many of you have continued to read and comment. You're all wonderful, and it makes writing fanfics such a fantastic hobby to have :D